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37 answers in 10 recordings, 2015 to 2021. 25 with a checked position in his own words.
Indexed so far: 259 of 1,859 recordings (1,904 answers, 2014 to 2025). Anything below may change as the rest are indexed. Limits of the data
Oldest first. A checked position shows what he holds, then the sentence he says, word for word from the transcript, with its moment. Years without one list the answers that have not been checked yet. Recordings not yet indexed may hold more.
· What does Mufti Abu Layth think of ISIS?
Mufti Abu Layth says ISIS is a ruthless takfiri ideology that threatens Muslims and non-Muslims alike, that holding Muslims collectively guilty for it is unfair, and that Western foreign policy, including the prisons of the war in Iraq, contributed to its creation.
“so it's not that they're just a threat to non-muslims they're a threat to each and all really they do have a mentality that um shows no mercy”
28:51TranscriptCite 2015-04-06-S08corrected
Mufti Abu Layth says the rise in Islamophobia is a reaction to the collective awakening of Muslims to their faith, fed by fear of what people do not understand, by scaremongering and misrepresentation, and marginally by fools who misportray Islam.
“I feel that the part of that rise in islamophobia is associated with the collective Awakening of Islam and the Muslims as a as a as a type of social phenomenon”
44:52TranscriptCite 2015-04-06-S12corrected
· Does Islam allow turning churches into mosques?
Mufti Abu Layth says Islam never set out to convert other faiths' holy sites into mosques.
“Islam does not set out to convert holy sites to mosques it's never that's never been the goal of Islam”
1:21:46TranscriptCite 2020-07-14-S19corrected
· Was it haram for the Ottomans to turn the Hagia Sophia into a mosque?
Mufti Abu Layth says the medieval conversion of churches into mosques was not haram but the politics of the time, though he does not think it was a good thing.
“if they did it in the past I'm not saying it was haram it wasn't I suppose they've kind of conquered and this is what they did I don't think it was a good thing”
1:23:42TranscriptCite 2020-07-14-S20corrected
· Is it wrong to turn the Hagia Sophia back into a mosque?
Mufti Abu Layth says converting the Hagia Sophia into a mosque is absolutely wrong and a great mistake.
“that this Hagia Sophia aya sofya converting it into a Masjid is absolutely wrong it is it is a great mistake”
1:26:17TranscriptCite 2020-07-14-S21corrected
· Were the Ottomans representatives of Islam?
Mufti Abu Layth says the Ottoman Empire was nothing more than a dynasty that happened to be Muslim and is not symbolic of Islam.
“the Ottoman Empire was never it was nothing more than a dynasty that just happened to be Muslim it is not symbolic of Islam”
1:27:33TranscriptCite 2020-07-14-S22corrected
· Does Istanbul need the Hagia Sophia as a mosque?
Mufti Abu Layth says there is no need for the Hagia Sophia as a mosque, since the Blue Mosque, holding at least ten thousand people, is a four-minute walk away.
“a four minute walk from the aya sofya a four minute walk four minutes that's how it is literally just in front of it right now there is no need for a new masjid”
1:30:44TranscriptCite 2020-07-14-S23corrected
· If Turkey can reconvert the Hagia Sophia, can Israel or India reconvert mosques too?
Mufti Abu Layth says that if Muslims justify the reconversion by the principle that might is right, they cannot complain when, by the same logic, Israel converts al-Aqsa back into the Temple of Solomon or India's Hindu majority converts mosques into temples.
“if you want to abide by this fair enough but don't come crying tomorrow when Masjid al-aqsa because it's under Israeli control is then converted back to the Temple of Solomon”
1:33:19TranscriptCite 2020-07-14-S24corrected
· Can a mosque that was once a waqf never be anything else?
Mufti Abu Layth says Abu Hanifa himself held that a waqf is not perpetual and can be overturned.
“he says that yes you can donate the benefits of something but it will always remain you know you can always overturn”
1:37:47TranscriptCite 2020-07-14-S25corrected
· Isn't the Prophet clearing the Kaaba of idols a precedent for the Hagia Sophia?
Mufti Abu Layth says the Prophet's removal of the idols from the Kaaba, which were tied to superstition, cannot be linked to converting a museum in a secular country today.
“I'm absolutely again for removing superstition that you can't link that to today in a city in a country that first of all is not an Islamic country”
1:49:15TranscriptCite 2020-07-14-S30corrected
· Was Sudan right to drop its alcohol and apostasy laws and end flogging?
Mufti Abu Layth says flogging in this day and age is nothing but damaging to Allah, His Messenger and their message.
“this kind of thing in this day and age is nothing but just damaging to Allah and His Messenger okay and their message”
2:08:38TranscriptCite 2020-07-14-S36corrected
· Does Islam allow converting churches and other places of worship into mosques?
Mufti Abu Layth says Islam never set out to convert other religions' holy sites into mosques: Umar did not convert Jerusalem's churches, and Quran 22:40 counts monasteries, churches and synagogues among the places where Allah's name is glorified and which He protects.
“i don't think islam encourages you to convert holy sites into masjids so for example if we look at the the quran”
4:24TranscriptCite 2020-07-16-S02corrected
· Was it haram for Muslims to turn the Hagia Sophia into a mosque after the conquest?
Mufti Abu Layth says the medieval conversion of churches into mosques and of mosques into cathedrals was the politics of men, neither encouraged nor prohibited by Islam, so the original conversion of the Hagia Sophia was not haram but was not a good thing.
“i'm not saying it was haram it wasn't i suppose they've kind of conquered and this is what they did i don't think it was a good thing”
8:42TranscriptCite 2020-07-16-S03corrected
· Is it wrong to turn the Hagia Sophia back into a mosque?
Mufti Abu Layth says converting the Hagia Sophia back into a mosque is not a matter of halal and haram, since Turkey may legally do what it wants with its property, but is absolutely wrong and a great mistake, driven in his view by the regime's wish to lead the Islamic world.
“converting it into a masjid is absolutely wrong it is uh it is a great mistake that is being celebrated by people”
11:53TranscriptCite 2020-07-16-S04corrected
· Were the Ottomans the representatives of Islam?
Mufti Abu Layth says the Ottoman Empire was a dynasty that happened to be Muslim and never claimed to be a symbol of Islam, styling its sultans 'Caesar of Rome' and practising mandatory fratricide, so Muslims who romanticise it as representing Islam are mistaken.
“the ottoman empire was never it was nothing more than a dynasty that just happened to be muslim it is not symbolic of islam”
13:13TranscriptCite 2020-07-16-S05corrected
· Does Istanbul need the Hagia Sophia as a mosque?
Mufti Abu Layth says there is no need for the Hagia Sophia as a mosque, since the Blue Mosque, with room for at least ten thousand, is a four-minute walk away and hundreds of Istanbul mosques already call the adhan.
“there is no need for a new masjid we don't have a need first of all i'm just trying to eliminate that aspect there is no need”
16:27TranscriptCite 2020-07-16-S06corrected
· If Muslims can reconvert the Hagia Sophia, can Israel or India reconvert mosques too?
Mufti Abu Layth says justifying the reconversion by the Muslim majority's legal power is the principle of Thrasymachus that might is right, and that by the same logic Israel could convert al-Aqsa into the Temple of Solomon and India's Hindu majority could convert mosques into temples, so Muslims cannot then complain.
“if you want to abide by this fair enough but don't come crying tomorrow when masjid al-aqsa because it's under israeli control is then converted back to the temple of solomon”
19:01TranscriptCite 2020-07-16-S07corrected
· Can a waqf never be overturned, as the argument for the Hagia Sophia claims?
Mufti Abu Layth says the reconversion is part of a rising right-wing fascism that includes Muslims, and that the waqf argument fails because Abu Hanifa himself held that an endowment can be overturned, a view Hanafis abandon when it does not serve the powerful or the clergy.
“he says that yes you can donate the benefits of something but it will always remain uh you know you can always overturn it”
23:31TranscriptCite 2020-07-16-S08corrected
· What are the layers behind the Palestinian crisis of May 2021?
Mufti Abu Layth says the Palestinian crisis has an occupation layer, the illegal Israeli occupation and forced removals that are clear oppression and a crime against humanity, and a political layer involving Gulf normalisation with Israel, Netanyahu's domestic position and Arab neighbours' interest in a buffer zone.
“i mean there are layers to this crisis one layer is that of the illegal israeli occupancy that they have moved in illegally they have expanded”
1:19TranscriptCite 2021-05-15-S01corrected
· Is the Gaza conflict a war or a genocide, and who is egging Palestinians on?
Mufti Abu Layth says the conflict is a genocide rather than a war, and that egging Palestinians on towards martyrdom from the comfort of one's home is an armchair-coward approach.
“so this this raza israel war is not a war it is a genocide and people have to you see the reality is that that's all it is”
18:19TranscriptCite 2021-05-15-S05corrected
· What can people realistically do for Palestine, and is migration an option?
Mufti Abu Layth says ordinary people are largely helpless beyond pressuring members of parliament, economic boycotts and dua, that no land is worth a genocide, and that, since the Prophet taught people to migrate, an assessment that a genocide is under way calls for migration or else meaningful negotiation.
“it is not this land is never worth the genocide the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam did teach people to migrate”
29:02TranscriptCite 2021-05-15-S07corrected
· Has the UAE's recognition of Israel brought any peace?
Mufti Abu Layth says that at a state level Israel is a terrorist state that has committed documented war crimes against Palestinians, that saying so is not antisemitism, and that the UAE's recognition deal has brought no peace and is not a solution.
“israel is a at a state level it is a terrorist at a state level okay this is not anti-semitism i'm not against jewish people”
4:00TranscriptCite 2021-05-17-S02corrected
· What does Mufti Abu Layth think should happen to the Palestinians in Gaza?
Mufti Abu Layth holds that Israel is here to stay, that a two-state solution would be ideal but will never happen, and that the Palestinians of Gaza and the blockaded areas should instead be relocated with compensation, housing and education across the Arab world rather than guilt-tripped into staying.
“i then would argue for a complete exile of all palestinians i would say that all palestinians should leave palestine and it should be facilitated for them”
9:39TranscriptCite 2021-05-17-S03corrected
· Should Palestinians stay and defend the holy land at the cost of their lives?
Mufti Abu Layth holds that the war against Israel is lost, that the preservation of life comes before holy places since a Muslim's honour outweighs the Kaaba destroyed and rebuilt seven times, and that Muslims guilt-trip Palestinians into staying and dying.
“life comes before place like if you had if you had the choice to save a life or the kaaba”
16:09TranscriptCite 2021-05-17-S05corrected
· What does Mufti Abu Layth think the solution for Kashmir is?
Mufti Abu Layth says that Kashmir, unlike Gaza, is a heavily militarised zone, that India would not pay to relocate its people, and that the ideal solution would be independence for part of Kashmir, such as the valley, with buffers kept so that Pakistan is not left vulnerable, though he expects none of it to happen.
“ideally for the kashmir issue i would see this is what i ideally opt for is that kashmir could just become independent”
23:12TranscriptCite 2021-05-17-S07corrected
How many of these answers cite each (guest speech left out). Cited means named as evidence or discussed, not necessarily accepted: open the answers to see which.
These answers state a view in order to discuss it, often to reject it. They are never read as his position.
Cite a statement by its id: Mufti Abu Layth Archive, segment id, with the date and the address of its page. Citation formats
